1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to distributed network systems. Specifically, this invention is directed to a system and method for targeting and distributing advertisements over a distributed network, such as the Internet.
2. Description of Related Art
The number of users accessing and utilizing distributed information networks, such as the Internet, is rapidly growing. As a result, the Internet is rapidly becoming a popular advertising and marketing medium.
The PointCast.RTM. Network, which "broadcasts" personalized news to Internet users, also allows advertisers to deliver advertisements directly to Internet users. The advertisements delivered by the PointCast.RTM. Network appear on the user's computer when the computer is running the PointCast.RTM. Network application software.
The PointCast.RTM. Network application has a "screen saver" mode and a "channel viewer" mode. In the screen saver mode, the PointCast.RTM. Network application displays advertisements on the user's computer in a random fashion. In the channel viewer mode, the PointCast.RTM. Network application displays advertisements while the user is viewing their personalized news. In the channel viewer mode, the PointCast.RTM. Network application can also display advertisements that are related to the type of news or information being viewed by the user.
One problem with the PointCast.RTM. Network is the limited exposure users have to the advertisements. In the screen saver mode, the user is typically not using the computer. Therefore, the probability that a user will view a displayed advertisement is relatively low. For a user to be exposed to an advertisement in the channel viewer mode, the user must be accessing the PointCast.RTM. Network software to view news. Thus, when the user is performing other activities on the computer, the probability of viewing an advertisement is relatively low.
Another problem with the PointCast.RTM. Network is that the PointCast.RTM. Network server downloads all available advertisements to every user that accesses the PointCast.RTM. Network. The PointCast.RTM. Network application then groups and displays the advertisements according to the viewing mode currently set, i.e., screen saver or channel viewer mode, and the type of news being accessed by the user, when the PointCast.RTM. Network application is in the channel viewer mode. Thus, the advertisements are not specifically targeted for each individual user.